Doubt your own strength, but never doubt Christ’s. In your gravest conflicts with Satan, trust Him to bring you out of the devil’s dominion with a high hand, in spite of all the force and fury of hell.
~William Gurnall
“How the oppressor has ceased, the insolent fury ceased! The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers, that struck the peoples in wrath with unceasing blows, that ruled the nations in anger with unrelenting persecution. The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing. The cypresses rejoice at you, the cedars of Lebanon, saying, ‘Since you were laid low, no woodcutter comes up against us.’ Sheol beneath is stirred up to meet you when you come; it rouses the shades to greet you, all who were leaders of the earth; it raises from their thrones all who were kings of the nations. All of them will answer and say to you: ‘You too have become as weak as we! You have become like us!’ Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, the sound of your harps; maggots are laid as a bed beneath you, and worms are your covers. “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit. Those who see you will stare at you and ponder over you: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who did not let his prisoners go home?’ All the kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb; but you are cast out, away from your grave, like a loathed branch, clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a dead body trampled underfoot. You will not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land, you have slain your people.
~ The downfall of Sennacherib, and a shadow of the downfall of The Satan, in Isaiah 14
Oh beloved, it is true.
We, each of us, have endured the temptations of the evil ones. And, apart from the help of the Holy Spirit, and the grace He gives us, we have failed to resist these allurements. And in our failure, we have sinned against G_d, committed spiritual adultery, and brought harm to others, and own selves in so many ways.
But the issue is deeper.
Really, temptation is not just about us. Oh yes, if the evil one can destroy us, and spite his Creator in the doing, then he has made quite some progress. But, if we really think about it, we will come to see that The Satan, is an adversary for much more than just the downing of others around him.
What we find, is that in Scripture, the things to which we are tempted, are quite actually the fruit of the tempter. They are not quite the opposite, of the fruit of The Holy Spirit, as there is no opposing force to the Very G_d of The Universe, praise Him alone! They are, though, a perversion and contortion.
Giving Love becomes grasping lust
Relational Strength in Joy becomes irrational indulgence
Truth-centered Peace becomes self-centered false worship
Patience becomes the downgrade of hatred, discord, and jealousy
Kindness becomes rage
Goodness degrades into selfish ambition
Faithfulness is replaced by dissension
Gentleness breaks into factions and envy
Self-control becomes self-seeking drunkenness and orgies.
All of these things, that are the perversions, are not just intended to ruin us and keep us out of the Kingdom of Heaven. They are intended to give the tempter ever more power in our lives, and to create some sort of fiefdom of his own. As we give ourselves over to his promptings, we feed the evil one’s one great temptation: that he would have his own position of final authority in heavenly places.
Can we see it?
The Satan is not just trying to destroy you. The Father of Lies is not just trying to thumb his nose at The Almighty (though, he is most surely doing this). No, The Devil is trying to save his own skin. He knows that his end is sure. But, a liar will lie even to himself, and he is going to lie himself all the way to hell. This is the great cause of temptation: The Liar is lying to himself.
We don’t have to listen.
And the best part, is that in refusing to listen to the liar, we not only find victory for ourselves within The Spirit at work within us – we also take part in the victory that has already been won by our King over this usurper who tries to pull us down. Said more simply, as Graham Cooke has said, “Our obedience makes us ready to get revenge on the enemy.”
So, are you feeling like you need to give in to temptation? Yes, this is a bad idea. It is toxic to your relationship with G_d. It is also really bad for you yourself. However, what you (and this fool of a writer) might often forget, is that standing against the lies, does more than give us victory – it imparts defeat to our foe.
Tonight is your night, beloved. Time to get a little revenge on the liar. Time to strip him of some of his putrid shine. The Holy Spirit is able. Allow Him to grow His fruit in you, that the liars harvest fails.
If you want to serve God, prepare your heart not for food, not for drink, not for rest, not for ease, but for suffering, so that you may endure all temptations, trouble and sorrow. Prepare for severities, fasts, spiritual struggles and many afflictions, for “by many afflictions is it appointed to us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Acts 14,22); “The Heavenly Kingdom is taken by force, and the who use force seize it”. (Matt 11:12)
~St. Sergius of Radonezh, Life, 10
